The Mourning After
by Alaqua Slaughter
Summary: When Yugi dies, who would have thought that Bakura would be the one to take it the hardest? implied BxY.
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, another story…I really need to stop coming out with them… but this is a one-shot, so it doesn't count! And I guess this could be considered a side fic to No Regrets, if you want to see it that way…though it doesn't really fit.

* * *

"Sometimes the hardest things to let go of are the things you might not have even had in the first place." - Candace

* * *

"I can't believe this…"

"I never thought I'd have to see him in a casket until we were older."

"I don't think I can stand here for much longer…"

Joey sighed and looked at his short friend, who was lying in a navy blue casket, being held up by some thing under it. He blinked a few times and wiped at his eyes angrily. His friend wouldn't want him to be sad.

Téa, on the other hand, had no problem with crying her eyes out. It didn't matter to anyone, though. She had known him the longest, so she had the right to sob as much as she wanted.

Yami and Tristan were on either side of her, Tristan rubbing her back in soothing circles, swallowing thickly and holding back his own desire to cry and Yami had his hand on her shoulder, giving up pride in order to let a few stray tears slide down his face. They both were tense in their efforts to prevent themselves from breaking down.

Ryou was crying silently, standing against a wall and refusing to come within ten feet of the casket. Joey knew he was in denial and was only keeping away from the casket so as not to have proof of their friend's demise. It was only a matter of time before Ryou would summon the courage to say good-bye to his friend.

Duke was standing with Marik, talking silently about what would happen after the funeral. It was guaranteed that everyone would be mixed up and lost about what to do next. Joey dreaded thinking about what would happen to Yami and Téa, they were the ones who knew him the most and they were the ones who were going to suffer after everything was done.

The front door opened silently and everyone looked to see who it was, for even silence could be heard in the small room. Joey raised his eyebrows when Kaiba walked in, followed shortly by Mokuba, both dressed in black suits. Kaiba glared at everyone who looked at him and walked to the casket, Mokuba sniffling as he trailed behind. When Kaiba stopped in front of it, he seemed to hesitate before pulling out something from his pocket. Joey could see that it was a Duel Monsters card. He wandered what he was going to with it for a moment before Kaiba placed it gently into the casket, looking at it his eyes softened before he turned around abruptly and went to sit next to Yami. Mokuba glanced into the casket and started to cry louder and went to sit next to his brother.

Overcome with curiosity, Joey looked into the casket and his eyes widened with surprise. Next to the Dark Magician that was already resting next to his friend there was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Kaiba must respect him a lot to have given up his Blue Eyes.

"Blue Eyes…" Joey jumped slightly at the thoughtful voice next to him.

He blinked when he saw that it was Bakura, looking into the casket, his eyes and face blank. It scared Joey a bit to see the white-haired former spirit's face so devoid of emotion. Usually anger or sadistic pleasure was coursing through his eyes.

"Surprising, isn't it? That his enemies respect and love him as much as his friends…only someone truly special can pull that off with people." Bakura whispered, stroking the dead boy's face tenderly. "He will be missed by many."

"Yeah," Joey replied, suddenly worried for Bakura's health, "are you feeling okay, Bakura? You don't look so good."

Bakura's face had always been pale, but now it looked sunken and pasty. He looked thinner than ever and his hair looked limp, as if he hadn't bothered with taking care of himself for while.

Bakura blinked and looked away, jerking his hand back as if he had been burned. "I'm fine, Wheeler. There's no need to worry about me."

"That's no gonna stop me from worrying about you. You haven't looked very good for a while. Have you even eaten or showered for the past week?"

Bakura shrugged. "What does it matter? There's no need for me to do that when there's no point to it."

"The point is to stay healthy and to not smell. Why haven't you been taking care of yourself?"

"Bursting with questions today, aren't you? Just stay out of it, Wheeler, nothing can fix what I'm going through." Bakura said quietly. He glared at Joey for a moment before glancing back at into the casket, his face softening for a moment before he turned and walked out the door.

Joey debated on following, when his decision was made by loud cursing coming from outside. Everyone was suddenly roused from their stupors as they looked towards the door. Realizing that it was just Bakura, they went back to mourning. Joey, however, squared his shoulders and charged into the night.

He didn't see Bakura anywhere as he glance around the street. That didn't matter as Joey started to run. He knew where the former spirit was going.

* * *

Bakura ran. He knew where he wanted to go, but he wasn't very determined to get there. It wouldn't matter if he did. It didn't matter what he did anymore. He could scream into his pillow for eternity, blast his music as loud as it would go forever, he could cure cancer, and none of it would bring him back. That's what hurt. Knowing that the one he wanted wouldn't ever be seen again except for in pictures.

He reached the school, climbing the gate and dropping cat like onto the ground below, glancing around for any sign of people. Seeing nothing that threatened him, Bakura made his way to a back stairway, one that would lead him to the roof of the building.

When he finally got there, he bent double, holding his stomach. Seeing his body… it just made Bakura feel even sicker than he already was. It wasn't fair…he wasn't supposed to be dead, not yet…

He whipped his head around when he heard the creak of the door opening. He glared fiercely when he saw that it was Joey.

"What do you want?" he growled, not in the mood to deal with any form of human contact.

"I figured out what's wrong on my way here." Joey answered simply, going to the rail and leaning against it. "You're being torn apart inside by this whole thing."

"Thank for that assessment, Dr. Phil, now do you mind going away?"

"You're taking it to the heart, refusing any outside help, believing that you'll get over it by yourself." Joey continued, ignoring Bakura completely. "The thing is, you _know_ you won't get over it that easily. There are steps to take and you realize that and it makes you angry because you also know that you have to follow those steps if you want to feel better."

Bakura blinked. "Well, the dog's done his homework. Now tell me, Maury, how do you propose I get better?" he drawled.

Joey grinned. "You'll have to figure that one out yourself. The book I borrowed from Yami didn't say."

"You got my problem from a book? Is it really that common?" Bakura asked, crossing arms.

Joey shrugged. "If you believe in your love, then yeah."

Bakura tensed. "Why do you think it's love?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"The look on your face." Joey replied simply. "It had 'love' written all over it. Whether you love him or not isn't the issues here, though. We're here to figure out how to get you to release your emotions without destroying your image."

Bakura cocked an eyebrow. "You care about my image?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't be Bakura if you suddenly bawled your eyes out or something. It would set off a chain of events eventually leading to the apocalypse."

Bakura snorted. "I don't need a release, I'm doing fine without it."

Joey raised an eyebrow and looked at Bakura's baggy clothes that had fit him a week ago, and his unkempt hair. "Uh-huh."

Bakura glared. "Mourning won't do me any good, Wheeler. It won't bring him back and it won't change the way I feel." Bakura voice cracked for a moment before he composed himself again. "Mourning is for the weak."

"Mourning if for those who care." Joey said softly. "Mourning is for those who refuse to let a memory die. For those who can let go yet hang on to any remnants of a person or thing."

"I don't care." Bakrau spat, glaring furiously.

"If you didn't, you wouldn't have shown up at the wake." Joey pointed out.

"I wanted to make sure he was dead." Bakura growled.

"You could have figured that out if you went later and looked at his headstone."

"I didn't want to wait that long."

"Why not? You waited 3,000 years to get revenge."

"That's different."

"How so? You waited a millennia to get back at Yami, why not wait a week or so to look at someone's grave?"

"I wanted to say good-bye!" Bakura shouted, getting fed up with Joey. "I wanted to say good-bye." He whispered, leaning against the wall and sliding down it. "I wanted to redeem myself."

Joey watched Bakura as he looked down, his hair falling into his face.

"I do care, no matter how much I force myself not to. I didn't want to believe he was dead." Bakura whispered, running a hand through his hair. "I guess I share that much with Ryou, he didn't want to believe it either, still doesn't."

Bakura slumped against the wall, the perfect picture of despair.

"The night he died…I was looking for him. Yami told me that he was walking somewhere, he didn't trust me enough to tell me exactly where. I was planning on leaving this place, for good, even Ryou didn't know. I was looking for him because he was the only one who understood me, who cared enough about me to invite me places and try to talk to me, besides Ryou and Marik. He was the one who counted and I didn't want him to feel abandoned when I left."

Bakura buried his face in his hands, taking a deep breath. Joey's shoulders slumped as he realized just how much his friend meant to everyone.

"I only wanted to say good-bye…"

* * *

okay, I'm turning this into a two-shot. It's getting too long for me to fit the funeral into this. 


	2. Chapter 2

i updated this one early...yay! Enjoy! oh, yeah, sorry for making you guys cry, i didn't think it would be that sad, which i guess is the problem, i didn't think. just be grateful that was the edited version, the original was worse. and don't ask why, but i randomly put in when they were told.

* * *

A million words won't bring you back,  
I know because I've tried,  
A million tears won't bring you back,  
I know because I've cried 

- Lillian

* * *

Joey sighed as he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was wearing a black suit, not as business-like as Kaiba brothers, but not very formal either. For the millionth time, he grasped his tie before letting his arm fall back to his side. His hands twitched, longing to take it off and Joey vaguely wondered if anyone would mind if he did. 

"Joey?" A hoarse, weak, tired voice asked from the open door.

He looked to see Ryou, wearing a less formal suit. Black slacks and a black button up shirt with formal boots made up his outfit and Joey envied his simplicity. Despite being up all night, Ryou didn't look the least bit tired, except for his puffy eyes, which betrayed the fact that he'd been crying.

"Why don't you just take it off?" Ryou asked, sniffling and smiling slightly.

Joey scowled, turning back to his reflection. "It doesn't look right without the tie." He mumbled, tugging on it. The knot came loose and his tie now hung casually on his neck, making him scowl more and yank the whole thing off.

Ryou's smile widened and he laughed a little. "I came to tell you that they want the Pall Bearers out there now, we'll be leaving for the church in ten minutes."

"Alright." Joey sighed, following Ryou out of the bathroom, after giving his reflection one last dirty look.

Joey blinlked when he saw that there were more people in the living room than there had been the night before. He carefully scaned the entire room, looking at every face. He sighed and shook his head when he realized that Bakura wasn't there.

After Bakura had confessed, they'd just sat there on the roof, Joey staring at the sky and Bakura at the ground. After a while, Joey had left, leaving Bakura on the rooftop to be alone for a while. Joey had hoped that he'd come to the funeral, but he knew there was only a slim chance the former spirit would show.

Yami managed to catch his eye, jerking his head towards the casket. Joey nodded and made his way through the crowd of people, the feeling of loss heavy on his shoulders. When the six Pall Bearers were assembled around the casket, one of the curators from the mortuary carefully closed it. People watched with sad eyes as Joey and the others carefully lifted it and took it out to the hearse.

* * *

The ride to the church was painfully slow. Joey couldn't help but fidget the whole way, squirming in his seat and sighing impatiently. When they did reach the church, it was aleady packed with people, many of them were standing outside, silent as the hearse drove past. 

When the eulogy was read and over with and everyone had said their speaches and the bands and choirs had played, the last viewing was the only thing left to do. It was the moment everyone had been dreading.

Fans lined up, silently whispering to each other and only quieting when it was their turn to look into the casket. The line spread around the entire church, going outside and onto the sidewalk. Music played softly in the background, someone having put in his favorite CD.

Joey did his best to not cry when people circled around to shake his hand. He was sitting in the very front row, reserved for family and close friends. People from tournaments and kids and teachers from school all gave him their condolences, looking at him with sorrow.

Two hours after the services began, it was time for the casket to be closed. All the people in the front row got up, walking slowly and painfully to the front, not wanting to reach it.

Grandpa Motou was the first to break down, leaning over and giving his grandson one last hug and kiss. Ryou and Tea were next, leaning against each other for support. Joey, Duke, Tristan and Yami tried to keep themselves in check, but failed misserably. Yami leaned in and gave his light a kiss on the cheek, squeezing his hand and looking as if he never wanted to let go. Duke and Tristan stood back, staring as if they were willing their friend to get up. Joey burried his face into his hands,his shoulders shaking with sobs.

When their throats were sore and their tears died down, they finally looked up. With gasps of surprise, they all saw that Bakura was there. He was looking into the casket, his face unreadable but his eyes were full of sorrow, ignoring the others completely.

Taking everyone besides Joey by surprise, he leaned down and kissed the body softly. His eyes softened as he came back up, tears sliding down his face. He stepped back, quickly wiping them away.

The curator of the mortuary walked up, patting Bakura and Grandpa Motou on the back. Suddenly, the church was filled with wails. People were leaning on each other and others were sobbing into their tissues or hands. Not being able to take it, they all gave in and cried loudly, except for Bakura, who somehow managed to keep his face stoic. Glancing at them,the curator slowly closed the lid of the casket.

* * *

"I see you cleaned yourself up." Joey stated idely when the others got to work on filling the grave.

Indeed, Bakura's hair was washed, his black suit was clean and his cologne was no longer masking his body odor. He still looked a bit sick, but no longer deathly so.

Bakura shrugged. "This is a funeral, it would be disrespectful to show up looking the way I did yesterday."

They were silent a moment, watching the others fill the grave tirelessly. The air held the scent of the many flowers that were standing next to the grave and someone had turned on the radio in one of the cars, playing some old song.

"It means a lot." Joey said suddenly.

"What?" Bakura asked, tearing his eyes from the rapidly filling hole and looking at Joey.

"You. Showing up. It means a lot." Joey explained vaguely.

"To who?" Bakura scoffed, looking back at the grave.

"To me, to Yugi, to even Yami, surprisingly." Joey answered, scratching the back of his head. "He was surprised you showed but he was glad."

"Yami was glad I showed up and kissed his light right in front of him?" Bakura said increduosly.

"Yeah, he said..." Joey trailed off, suddenly unsure.

"Said what?" Bakura demanded.

"He said, " Joey hesitated, "he said that Yugi...liked you and that he would've been happy to know you were there."

Bakura blinked.

"He was angry and protective when Yugi first admitted it, but he gave in when Yugi pointed out that you were cleaning up your act and were even almost civil. It meant a lot to the both of them that you cared enough to show up." Joey continued.

"How do you know Yugi was happy?" Bakura asked, glancing into the grave doubtfully, as if he thought Yugi himself had told Joey. "How do you know you don't just disappear when you die?"

"Bakura," Joey said flatly, "you're testament to the fact that there's life after death. I'm sure Yugi's around somewhere, giggling about having won your heart."

"When I get to the afterlife, I'm going to throttle him for dying on me." Bakura growled, but it was an empty threat and they both knew it. "I just wish there had been more _time_. If he hadn't died so early..."

Unwillingly, they remebered when they had been told their friend was dead.

* * *

FLASHBACK

_Joey and the others stood in the living room, confused. Grandpa Motou had called them all there, saying that it was urgent. His voice had been filled with sadness and he'd been sniffling on the phone._

_Yami was pacing the floor, his brows knit with worry, wondering where his light was. Tea was sitting on the couch, biting her nails and glancing around nervously. Ryou was sitting next to her, biting his lip. Duke and Tristan were both leaning against a wall, arms crossed, sending each other worried glances. Bakura was also leaning against a wall, arms crossed, and looking bored._

_"Will you stop pacing?" Bakura finally snapped at Yami. "You're making me nervous."_

_Yami opened his mouth to reply but closed it and shook his head. _

_They all jumped when a door slamed and Grandpa Motou walked in, hanging his coat. He turned around and looked at them blankly, as if he couldn't understand why they were there._

_"Grandpa! Where's Yugi? I can't reach him through our link, it just went dead." Yami said, looking even more worried when Grandpa Motou just looked at him sadly. _

_"Sit down." he said tiredly, motioning to the floor. "All of you." he added to Bakura, who hadn't moved._

_Bakura snorted and slowly made his way to the couch, sitting on the arm rest next to Ryou._

_Grandpa Motou sighed wearily and stood in front of them, looking at every one of them carefully before speaking._

_"Yugi was in a car accident today." he started, his lip trembling, "and...and...well, he's gone and he's never going to come back."_

_They all stared at him blankly, not comprehending his words._

_"He had internal injuries, they couldn't save him, he died just an hour ago."_

_Tea and Ryou gasped, their hands flying to their mouths. Joey, Tristan and Duke continued to stare blankly. Yami and Bakura's eyes widened._

_"What? But-"Yami struggled to say something, but couldn't. Tea burst into tears and Ryou hung his head, crying silently. "NO!" Yami yelled, dropping onto the floor in dispair and staring blankly. "Not my light...not Yugi."_

_Bakura jumped to his feet, glaring at Solomon. "You're lying! You have to be!"_

_"I wish I was Bakura." he replied solemnly. "I wish I was."_

_Bakura's vision went black for a moment. He shook his head and gave the old man one last glare before rushing out, slamming the door behind him. He tried to run from the truth, but Solomon's words echoed in his head._

_"Yugi's gone...and he's never going to come back..."_

* * *

yeah, i know it seemed kinda rushed but i'll go back and fix some other time. it'll be better when i do. anyway, hoped you liked it! and it _will_ be better when i fix it! 


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